Final Facts From the Field…

*– Today’s game was just the second-ever meeting between Notre Dame and Rutgers. The Irish won theonly other meeting 48-0 on November 8, 1921 in New York City.

*– Today’s win marked Lou Holtz’s 100th win at Notre Dame. In his 11th season at Notre Dame, Holtzis now 100-29-2 (.771). His 100 wins place him second on Notre Dame’s all-time coaching wins list,behind Knute Rockne’s 105 wins. Holtz has a 27-year career record of 216-94-7 (.692).

*– Ron Powlus threw his Notre Dame-record 42nd touchdown pass on a 42-yard strike to MalcolmJohnson in the third quarter, breaking Rick Mirer’s previous record of 41. Powlus entered the game with38 career TD passes, and had scoring passes of eight yards to Autry Denson, 13 yards to Jamie Spencer,three yards to Pete Chryplewicz and the 42-yarder to Johnson.

*– Today’s game marks the fifth time the Irish have played in Notre Dame Stadium on this exactdate, Nov. 23. The previous four games featured a victory over USC in 1935, a loss to ninth-ranked Iowa in 1957, a win over Air Force in 1974 in Ara Parseghian’s last home game as Notre Dame head coach,and a loss to 17th-ranked LSU in Gerry Faust’s last home game as Irish head coach. Nov. 23 is also the 109th anniversary of Notre Dame first varsity football game, as the Irish lost to visiting Michigan 8-0 in Notre Dame’s only game of the 1887 season.

*– Today’s game is the 330th and last in the current Notre Dame Stadium configuration that features 59,075 seats. Those 330 games have been watched by 17,314,670 fans, an average of 52,468 pergame. Today’s game marks the 130th consecutive sellout and the 178th in 179 games dating back to 1964.Rutgers is the 57th team to play in Notre Dame Stadium against the Irish. Notre Dame opponents who haveplayed here the most are USC with 30 appearances, Purdue with 27 and Navy and Pittsburgh with 24 each. Notre Dame has a record of 252-73-5 (.771) in Notre Dame Stadium after today.

*– Notre Dame’s 315 yards passing were the most by a Notre Dame team since Rick Mirer, KevinMcDougal and Paul Failla combined to throw 331 against Michigan State in 1992.

*– Notre Dame’s 648 yards of total offense mark the second time this season that the Irish havegained over 600 yards of offense, the first being 650 against Washington Oct. 12.

*– Notre Dame’s defense held Rutgers to -6 yards rushing, the fewest allowed since the Irish heldSMU to -7 yards rushing in 1989.

*– With the 60-6 win over Pittsburgh last week and the 62-0 win over Rutgers today, the Irish scored 60 or more points in consecutive games for the first time since 1932, when Notre Dame opened theseason with a 73-0 win over Haskell and a 62-0 win over Drake. The 62 points is the most scored byNotre Dame is the most since a 69-14 win over Georgia Tech in 1977, and the 62-point margin is the highest since the Irish beat Duke 64-0 in 1966.

*– Notre Dame tied a team record with five touchdown passes in the game. The Irish also had five TD passes against Pittsburgh in 1944, Georgia Tech in 1977 and Northwestern in 1994.

*– Rutgers is the third straight Big East team that Notre Dame has played. The Irish beat Boston College 48-21 on Nov. 9 and Pittsburgh 60-6 last week.

*– Powlus tied a career high with four touchdown passes against Rutgers. He also threw four against Northwestern in 1994 and Purdue in 1995.

*– Sophomore tight end John Cerasani caught a four-yard pass from Hunter Smith for his firstcareer reception.

*– Powlus’ 64-yard pass to Emmett Mosley in the first quarter was the longest pass of his career,surpassing a 60-yard touchdown pass to Derek Mayes against Navy in 1994.

*– Autry Denson became the sixth running back in Notre Dame history to surpass the 1,000-yard plateau in a season with his 116 yards on 13 carries today to up his season total to 1,019 yards, joining Vagas Ferguson (1978-79), Allen Pinkett (1983-85), Reggie Brooks (1992), Al Hunter (1976) and Lee Becton (1993).

*– Joey Goodspeed’s touchdown return on a Notre Dame blocked punt mark the team’s first blocked punt for a touchdown since Reggie Brooks recovered his own blocked punt in the end zone against Pittsburgh on Oct. 12, 1991.

*– Jamie Spencer caught his first career touchdown pass with his 13-yard shovel pass reception in the first quarter.